Determination of Henry's law constants of phenols by pervaporation-flow injection analysis.

A novel dynamic nonequilibrium technique for the determination of Henry's law constant (HLC) of phenols based on pervaporation-flow injection (PFI) is described. A linear relationship between HLC and the amount of phenol measured by a detector in the acceptor line of a PFI system was demonstrated. This relationship was constructed using five frequently encountered phenols (phenol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 2-chlorophenol, and 2,3-dimethylphenol) and used for the determination of the HLC of three other phenols (2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2-methylphenol, and 3-methylphenol). The HLC of all eight phenols were also determined by the single equilibrium static technique (SEST). Fairly good agreementwas observed between both techniques regarding the HLC of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, 2-methylphenol, and 3-methylphenol. On the basis of the results obtained, it was concluded that the PFI technique offers considerable advantages over SEST in terms of precision, speed, labor intensity, and possibilities for automation.

A polymer membrane potentiometric sensor for silver.

Four new sulfur-containing compounds based on pyridine, benzene, 1,8-naphthyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline have been synthesized. These molecules have been incorporated into a polymeric matrix as neutral carriers and evaluated as silver sensors. Two of the compounds (pyridine and benzene) show high selectivity for Ag(+). The sensor with the pyridine-based compound, in particular, shows near-Nernstian response and good sensitivity towards Ag(+) with a short response time (<10s), making it ideal for use in flow analysis.

Gas diffusion with preconcentration for the determination of fluoride in water samples by flow injection.

The preconcentration of fluoride is achieved on-line by converting it to trimethylsilane which then diffuses through a gas permeable membrane to be absorbed in a stationary sodium hydroxide acceptor stream. This stream is enclosed in the sample loop of an injection valve and after preconcentration, the fluoride sample is flushed into a flow injection manifold for spectrophotometric analysis by the zirconium/alizarin S procedure at 520 nm. The method is suitable for fluoride analysis in the range 0.1-10 mg/l at a sampling rate of 17/hr. Phosphate does not interfere and aluminium and iron can be tolerated at 200 and 500 times the fluoride concentration, respectively. The LOD was calculated to be 0.055 mg/l and LOQ was found to be 0.18 mg/l.

Speciation of dissolved phosphorus in environmental samples by gel filtration and flow-injection analysis.

A study of the factors affecting separation and detection of dissolved organic and inorganic phosphorus species found in waters sediments is reported. The system involved the use of gel filtration and flow injection analysis (FIA). Orthophosphate and myo-inositol hexakisphosphate, as model solutes representative of low molecular weight P (LMWP) and high molecular weight P (HMWP), were separated on a Sephadex G25 column incorporated into a flow-injection manifold which utilized photo-oxidation and spectrophotometry for detection of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). The influence of eluent pH and ionic strength on adsorption and anionic exclusion of the model solutes is described, and the optimum eluent composition and sample size are described. The method was used to determine LMWP and HMWP in natural and waste waters, and in sediment extracts. Potential limitations of this approach are discussed.

Determination of sulfur dioxide in wines and beverages by flow injection analysis with reductive amperometric detection and electrolytic cleanup.

A new flow injection method is described for the determination of sulfur dioxide in red and white wines and other beverages. A dual-electrode electrochemical detector eliminates interferences by reduction at an upstream coulometric electrode before reductive detection of sulfur dioxide at the amperometric electrode. The data for free and total sulfur dioxide in wines and other beverages agree well with those obtained by the standard aspiration-oxidation method.

A fast response membrane-based pH indicator optode.

A cellulose acetate based optode membrane containing 4-dimethylamino-4'-octylazobenzene as an acid-base indicator is described. Other essential components of the membrane for a fast-responding and durable sensor are diethyl phthalate, triethyleneglycol and potassium tetrakis(4-chlorophenyl)borate. Factors affecting the sensor behaviour are discussed and an application in a flow-cell is demonstrated.

Determination of calcium in waters, milk and wine by discontinuous-flow analysis.

The flow-based analysis method, discontinuous-flow analysis (DFA), was used for the determination of total calcium in drinking water, milk and wine by titration with ethyleneglycoltetraacetic acid. The detector is a coated-wire calcium-selective electrode. The titration can be cycled continuously with a cycle time of about 1 min. This can be carried out with a single sample or with different samples using an autosampler. The method for waters and wine is simple, fast and highly reproducible. For milk, a back-titration method was used because of the complex matrix of the sample.

Serum calcium and potassium determination by the split membrane ion-selective electrode technique.

Results are presented for the determination by differential potentiometry of calcium and potassium in human and sheep sera, by use of a flow-through cell. The split-membrane ion-selective electrode technique has been used in conjunction with polymer membrane electrodes of the coated-wire type and the type containing an aqueous inner reference solution. The electroactive reagent is di(n-octylphenyl)phosphoric acid for calcium and valinomycin for potassium.